Kara Returns
by LA Turner
Summary: This is just a theory of what happened to Kara Thrace. SPOILERS for Season 3 up to the episode where Lee guards the lawyer.


"Cylon base ship is hailing us, Admiral."

Admiral Adama had been squinting up at the DRADIS display, half hoping that the red enemy ship would vanish as quickly as it had appeared. Half of the fleet of civilian ships had already jumped. The other half had been unable to jump ever since the accident on theDaru Mozu tylium refinery. Assigning crew to rotate in and out of duty on the refinery ship had sounded like a good idea, but the old crew were so desperate to leave that they gave only the most cursory of training before disappearing into the fleet. Their haste took the life of a Canceron man, who ended up contaminating an almost full tank of refined fuel during his last moments.

"Put them on."

Adama's grim features froze when he heard the voice. "Admiral, Kara here." There was a pause as though Starbuck was trying to figure out what to say, or perhaps just giving them time to comprehend what they'd just heard. "We need to talk."

"She's alive, Dad! I... I must have been blinded by the explosion, I didn't see her bail out, the radiation was jamming my DRADIS, and the Cylon raider she was chasing must have come back for her!" Lee Adama was pacing back and forth in his father's quarters, showing more energy than he had in weeks. "I can't believe she's alive!"

"I can't either." The tone in Admiral Adama's gravelly voice made Lee stop and turn to face him.

"What does _that_ mean?"

"Lee, she died out there. You were so close that you couldn't have missed seeing her escape. Her Viper was too close to the planet, even if a Cylon ship had been right there, she would have fallen to her death before it could catch her." Adama paused. "And you know that."

Lee put a hand to his forehead as though to shade his eyes from an unpleasant sight. "She's not a Cylon," he whispered. "She can't be."

"Let's find out."

Adama was surprised when the Cylons agreed to have a Raptor come and retrieve Kara, and it only strengthened his suspicions. He couldn't allow a Cylon ship to land inside his Battlestar, but if the Cylons were so willing to let her go, they must trust that she would return. Adama's mind was a turmoil of emotions: hope that Kara might actually still be alive, anger at the possibility that she might have been a Cylon all along, and fear that he might not be capable of deciding. As always, his face betrayed nothing of this as he stood in the hangar bay, watching the Raptor complete its final landing procedures. Apollo stood beside him, not yet so accomplished at hiding his feelings.

The deck was more crowded than usual. Gossip had spread quickly, and even though Adama had ordered a security detail to keep out the general public, every crew member who had even a faint reason to be on duty had shown up. They quietly cleaned parts and checked lists and when the Admiral wasn't looking, they stared in wonder at the Raptor.

The Raptor's hatch opened and the pilot stepped out. Inside in the shadows, someone began to stand, but Apollo called out "Stay there. We're coming in." Rumour was one thing, but if it turned out that this was a Cylon trap, they were not going to give a toaster any more access to their ship than absolutely necessary. Bad enough that they were risking the Admiral and the CAG, but even Tigh didn't have the courage to argue with them.

Lee's breath caught in his throat when his eyes adjusted and he saw Kara's grinning face. He willed his body to turn and stand across from her as his father took a seat beside him. When they were finally all staring at each other in silence, he reached over and hit the controls to close the hatch.

Kara's excited outburst broke the silence. "It's so good to see you again! Both of you!" She fidgeted slightly, as though she were fighting the urge to throw herself at Lee for a big bear hug. Lee's hand moved to his sidearm and a cloud fell over Kara's face.

"Are you---" Adama had little patience for dancing around issues. He had to know.

Kara looked at the wall and sighed, a wry smile on her lips. "I wasn't." A tear trickled down her left cheek. "But now I am."

Lee managed to growl through his tears, "What the frack does that mean?"

"You remember that time on New Caprica, when I went back to save Anders and the Cylons captured me? They told me they took one of my ovaries, and I believed them. They told me I had a child, and I fracking believed them. It was all a load of shit to distract me from what they really did." Kara paused and looked Lee in the eye. "They planted nanomachines in me, Lee. Unless of course they're fracking with me this time too, but it's the only thing that makes sense. They wanted another model, and they can't reproduce. Hera will take too long to grow up. The nanomachines fracking uploaded me when I died!"

Lee staggered slightly and fell back against the side of the ship. "You're not Kara."

"I'm everything of her that ever mattered, Lee." Kara's face was a mixture of sorrow and desperation.

In the next breath, the Admiral's sidearm was pointed at Kara. "No," he said. "You are an obscenity." He stood and gestured to Apollo to open the door. "I'd shoot you right now, but we both know it wouldn't do any good."

"Don't you think I've tried that?" Kara shouted through tears. "It's a nightmare, they won't let me die! They wanted information, they thought I would just tell them everything once I realized I was one of them. I've been tortured to death more times than I can remember. I've killed myself, only to wake up again. And all the time they just keep smiling and calling me sister and telling me that I've come home! _This is my home!_"

Lee's hand finally found the controls and the hatch hissed open. He didn't even look back as he left.

Adama backed out, only holstering his weapon as the hatch sealed itself again. The last words Kara heard him say were "Not anymore."


End file.
